Entertainment

Buddy Media Raises $23 Million to Expand its Facebook Brand Management System

Buddy Media, a company that provides a platform for brand marketing and management on Facebook, has raised a whopping $23 million in a Series C round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and joined by existing investors Greycroft Partners, Bay Partners and Softbank Capital.

The funding, which was announced by CEO Michael Lazerow at a reception for its new offices in Manhattan, is intended to fuel the company's expansion. Specifically, the company cited that it intends to triple its headcount from 100 to 300 people in the near future, "as well as fund other marketing and growth initiatives." We bet that the company, which has never been shy of acquisitions, will be buying up some of its competitors in the social media brand management space.

Buddy Media serves seven out of the top 10 largest global advertisers for Facebook brand management; more than 300 companies use its platform, triple the amount it had last year. The company also claims that it is profitable. Some of its new customers include Johnson & Johnson, Crate & Barrel and Ford.

Twenty-three million dollars isn't a small chunk of change; the company's going to be able to acquire a lot of companies and hire a lot of people, plus it has raised more than $10 million since its inception in 2007. Almost all of that is going to its efforts on the world's largest social network. Several months ago, Buddy Media launched integration with Facebook's Open Graph, helping brands utilize the power of the Like Button in their campaigns.

Facebook marketing has gone from a nice thing to have to an essential component of any major marketing campaign in just a few years. We've covered countlessFacebookmarketingcampaigns because they're pushing new and interesting innovations not just in social marketing, but in the entire marketing and advertising business.

Buddy Media hopes to be the platform that brands use to manage and track their rapidly-growing Facebook Pages and engagement campaigns. With a $23 million war chest, it's got a good shot at succeeding.

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